Blizzards
by Handwritten
Summary: She had only seen snow through a foggy window, yet she envied it. She wanted to make a snow angel, and catch snowflakes on her tongue, yet she didn't make a move... And she certainly never expected him to get involved - Namixas oneshot.


**Blizzards**

Recommended Song: _Memory at Home - Fruits Basket  
_

* * *

She wanted to build a snowman.

Why a snowman?

It was simple enough - she had only seen snow through a foggy window. Though the intricate patterns of snowflakes were pretty enough, Naminé wanted to experience the fluffy piles that gathered all around the outside of the castle. She wanted to feel it beneath her palms, and see her breath puff like clouds in front of her.  
It was rare that she felt so strongly about something; so the disappointed frown that settled on her face whenever the white clumps would fall from the sky took her by surprise.

Or - whenever it snowed, and she wasn't allowed outside -_ that_ was what brought on the frown. Even though the snow was the source of her constant disappointment, she couldn't anger herself over it. Snow was _pure_. How could you curse something so fragile?

Snow. It appealed to her - it was something no one could fight against. No matter what, every winter, it came down in sheets of feathery cold. True, it's blinding white resembled her room, to an extent; though snow was free. It came down, and would leave when it could no longer stand the heat. No one could ask it to. It lacked color - so much like her own self. Her pale, pale skin. Her light hair. Her plain clothes. Her _lifestyle_ lacked color.

Naminé́ lived in a controlled environment. She was never free. But snow...it _was _the environment. She envied it because of that.

She wanted to bury her face in the cold. She wished she _were_ the snow.

She wanted her cheeks to tingle with cold, like the other Organization members' faces did whenever they came back in from outside. She had watched from the lone library, Axel and Roxas get clobbered with snowballs from Demyx. (Axel had a tendency to melt most of his snowballs into slush, whereas Roxas had a terrible throwing arm - often resulting in hitting his own teammates).

Naminé watched Larxene send a sly smirk in the direction of Demyx's lopsided snow-person, before crushing it's head with her boot. She watched Marluxa quickly pace around the bunch, discreetly attempting to avoid any wandering snowballs.

Naminé knew that if she asked, they may let her come along (unless Larxene had anything to say about it). But most likely... she would end up watching from the sidelines as they had fun.

_Though_...she watched a certain spiky blond get his faced washed with snow. _Roxas...is..._

She didn't know how to describe him. Larxene was - well, rather scary, and intimidating. Axel was blunt, but had a soft side, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Demyx was easygoing and kind. Roxas was...different? Nice? Teasing? Annoying?

How was she supposed to pinpoint it to only a few words?

For some reason, whenever he spoke to her, her cheeks felt like they were burning. Her legs felt wobbly when he smiled - it didn't matter if the playful grin was aimed at her or not. She had almost drawn him once, but quickly pushed her sketchpad away in a fit of embarrassment.

Even though whenever he talked to her, the word 'stupid' and 'dope' were usually in there somewhere. But he didn't say it the same way Larxene spat the word 'witch' in her face. He said it like...he didn't _really _mean it. He wasn't laughing at her - he called everyone silly names. He didn't treat her any differently. Or that's what she liked to think.

Maybe that was why she liked him so much.

And, according to Demyx, he liked her too.

But that was merely wishful thinking - thoughts like that belonged with the ones about going into the snow. About her ever catching a fresh snowflake on the tip of her nose.

* * *

One evening, after a long day spent in the library and her chamber, Naminé quietly made her way to the entrance hall. Her bare feet were cold on the tiles, but she hardly felt it as she backed into the hallway adjacent to the staircase. The shadows of one of the deep doorways was even colder, but she kept her arms firmly at her sides as she leaned against the wall. Her timing was correct, for not but a minute later, did the remaining Organization troop in from the cold outdoors.

The younger members were laughing, shoving each other playfully as they all shook the remaining snow off their coats, stomping their boots with more exuberance then necessary. After a minute or two of loud talking, the cold got the better of them all; and they quickly dispersed into their separate rooms to change. All was left were a few puddles of water -- or so it seemed.

Once it was quiet, Naminé quickly crept to the foyer. Kneeling, she examined the small clumps of snow that lay scattered about the muddy floor. She picked up the cleanest one she could find, holding it in her smooth palm. It lay there, unmoving, until she moved her fingers to clench it tightly; it was molded into a tight ball of white. Naminé picked at it with her nail, watching it slowly melt with pure fascination.

If she had known Roxas was watching her from the top of the staircase, a bemused smile placed on his lips, she probably wouldn't have beamed like she did - or let such a carefree happiness fill the air around her.

* * *

"Roxas! Are you coming?" Axel hollered, donning a long dark jacket over his shoulders. Roxas shook his blond head, backing towards the staircase. Axel frowned, pausing as he pulled on his gloves.

"I think I'll skip it today." The youngest member shrugged under the gaze of his friend. With a flippant wave, Axel followed the other members out the door into the cold. Roxas didn't waste any time - he trotted down several hallways, almost out of breath by the time he stood in front of the white door.

He knocked, trying to slow his breathing before _she_ opened the door. When she did, a look of pure shock crossed her face at the sight of the boy leaning against her doorway. Naminé was so surprised, that she didn't find any words coming out of her mouth for several moments. This of course left Roxas in a slightly awkward situation, and he scratched his cheek nervously.

"I was just wondering if..." Her eyes widened as he spoke, a bit too quickly to be natural. "If you wanted to come outside. Er - I mean, go in the snow. With me. Only if you want to."

He fumbled over his words, tripping clumsily over syllables like a child. But she merely smiled, nodding happily as the idea sunk in.

"Y-Yes - I'd like to."

With a smirk of his own, Roxas told her to meet him in the back entrance in ten minutes. Once he had disappeared down the hallway, she closed the door with a excited squeak. She raced to change into clothes more suitable for the weather - she didn't even know why she had gotten them at the time, but she was glad she had them now. Pausing at her door to brush her bangs out of her eyes, a faint pink was traced along her cheekbones when she thought about how Roxas had smiled at her.

_Why now, of all times?_

Her shoes slid on the tiles as she walked quickly down the hallway, trying not to get too excited. Suppose he had only been playing a joke on her? It was a cruel thing to do - and she had yet to find out if he was one of his word yet. But he had _looked _honest enough when he asked. She forced herself to try to prepare for a large avalanche of disappointment as she swiftly walked down the creaky stairs leading to the back entrance.

This would be the perfect place to play a trick on someone. People so rarely came to this darker, unlit wing of the castle. Naminé's steps slowed once she hit the bottom stair, and she looked around the dark shadows of the walls uneasily. _Where was he? _Surely it had been more then ten minutes. Her shoulders dropped in disappointment, the side of her mouth turning downwards.

"What are you looking so depressed for? You dope."

A silent breath of relief escaped her as Roxas emerged from the lower hallway, winding a scarf around his neck. The dark blue material set off his blue eyes brilliantly, she noticed.

"I said I'd come, didn't I?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You ready?"

It felt like his smile set flight to what must have been hundreds of butterflies within her stomach.

"U-Um...yes..." She stuttered, playing with her fingers within her coats pocket. Roxas examined her for a moment, eyes flickering to her red cheeks more then once. Naminé tilted her head quizzically, and Roxas shook his head with a small smile.

"You'll probably want a hat, stupid." He snickered at her tight lips, and tugged off his own winter hat. Before she could protest, he stuck it over head (and her eyes), laughing again as she pushed it up her forehead.

It took a few seconds to find her tongue. "B-But this is yours!"

"So? I don't have lice or anything."

Naminé pulled a face. "Won't you be cold?"

He shook his head, and Naminé couldn't help but sigh as he guided her towards the small door. He knew none of the members ever went to this area, so they were alone for the time being. Naminé touched her gloved fingers to the rim of the hat.

"Don't forget to breathe." Roxas muttered - she shook her head, continuing to hold her breath out of sheer excitement.

He - finally - opened the door with a flourish. The sun was setting, so orange and red hues were bouncing off the sparkling snow like colored water. It was ten times better then looking at the soft mounds through the glass - and she told him so, almost breathlessly.

Roxas watched as she ran forward with a small gasp, immediately sinking into the foot-deep snow. With giggles abound, she struggled forward until she was a good four meters away.

"Wait for me, why don't you?" He called, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he started towards her. She waited impatiently, before she fell onto her knees and took generous handfuls of the snow. They began to crumble, and she experimentally slapped her hands together so they were packed together.

"It's all...so beautiful..." Her voice was weak, though she felt no embarrassment as Roxas kneeled beside her.

"So you've never-?"

"Never." She shook her head. It was more then she had ever dreamed of. It was like walking across mounds of baking soda, though it filtered like powder between her fingers.

Her breath clouded in front of her, hovering for a moment before fading away.

"The snow suits you." Roxas murmured, admiring the pink patches on her cheeks, and how his hat on her kept slipping down her face.

At his words, she ducked her head farther - causing the material to slide completely over her eyes. Before she could lift a finger to push it up, Roxas had yanked off his gloves and blocked her arm. She kept still as his warm fingers brushed her cool cheeks. He slowly moved the hat back to it's original position, trying not to imagine how red his cheeks must be.

"Thanks." Naminé smiled, and he returned the gesture.

"It's a bit big on you." A small chuckle arose; it was strange -- he rarely laughed, yet when he was around her, it was like he couldn't keep his laughter down. Naminé had pulled off one of her gloves, and was tracing her fingers along the top layer of the snow. When they tingled with cold, she held it out to Roxas to see. Another laugh - and then he wrapped his warmer fingers over hers, gently brushing his lips against the back of her hand. It happened so quickly, she could scarcely believe it actually happened.

They sat in the snow, under the setting sun. Hands still clasped.

After a few moments, Naminé gave him a present of his own. A soft kiss on each of his cold cheeks.

And this time, she blushed.

* * *

Roxas hated how the cold wind bit at his ears, and made the back of his neck tingle with cold.

...But he had a feeling he would forget his hat again - next time he took the artist out into the snow.

* * *

Gosh, Handwritten - you need to work on your story...not write all these watered-down cups of coffee!  
I know R/N were too OC to make this oneshot IU. Oh well. =_=; it's hard to make it a 'happy' oneshot, and make it IU. Mostly because their relationship is so sad and depressing ;_;

(Did anyone else get Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days? It's so much fun! x3 I really recommend it...especially if you love Roxas, since it's all about him. Take THAT, Sora!)

**Anyway. Author alert.**


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